Local History and Genealogy Services

The May Memorial Library maintains a Local History Collection which is accessible during regular library hours. Included in this collection are works on the history and genealogy of Alamance County and its contiguous counties --- Caswell, Chatham, Rockingham, Randolph, Orange, , and Guilford.   

The Local History Collection at May Memorial is a repository for the ancestor charts of members of the Alamance County Genealogical society and for the Society's collection of genealogical journals from other genealogical societies.

Also available are North Carolina census indexes for federal population censuses from 1790 through 1870. North Carolina census microfilm (1790-1930) not held in the local collection is provided for a return postage fee of $3 by mail for in-library use through the State Library of North Carolina. Out-of-state census microfilm (1790-1920) and Soundex/Miracode census indexes for census years 1880-1920 are available by mail through a commercial rental program for a fee of $3.50 per reel plus $2 postage and handling.

The library has access to HeritageQuest Online genealogical database through NC LIVE (for direct access to HeritageQuest Online,  click here)  and to NewspaperARCHIVE historical newspaper database.

The Local History Collection at May Memorial welcomes donations of materials of local interest. However, lack of archival quality storage facilities prevents the acceptance of photographs or certain primary source materials in fragile or delicate condition.

In addition, the branch libraries have small collections of historical and genealogical materials that are related to their geographical location.  Please call each branch for more specific information about their holdings.

Items unique to the Local History collection at May Memorial include:

• A collection of yearbooks from High Schools and Colleges in Alamance County and North Carolina
   

• A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in World War II.   Word (A-Z) or .pdf (A-Th only) formats available.

• A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in the Korean War.  Word format only.

• A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in World War I.  Word format only.
   

• A marriage and obituary index to The Alamance Gleaner, weekly newspaper published at Graham, NC, for the period 1875-1913.
   

• Genealogical notes on local families of German descent and Lutheran and Reformed Church records translated from German by the late Rev. David I. Offman, Lutheran minister.
   
• A scrapbook concerning the life of physician and blood-banking pioneer, Dr. Charles Richard Drew, who died in a traffic accident in Alamance County in 1950 and is memorialized by a local monument.
   
• Manuscripts of the column "In Days Gone By" written by the late Julian Hughes in the Burlington Times-News regarding early Burlington people and places.  An index to the articles is available here.
   
• A subject index to Don Bolden's Burlington Times-News columns "Alamance in the Past" for the years 1974 - 1976 is available here in Excel format.
   
• Early Burlington photographs from City of Burlington, Alamance County promotional pamphlet published in 1906 by O.F. Crowson held by the May Memorial Library Local History Collection. Several unidentified family photographs from the library collection are also included. View the photographs here.
   
• Microfilm of Cemetery records, Census records, Church histories, historic newspapers, city directories and more.  Complete list of microfilm held at May Memorial.

• Family History Vertical File.  View a list of Surnames included in this file here (Word format). Please note that items in this file include typescript family histories, pedigree sheets, newspaper obituaries, and various brief items of genealogical interest for families in Alamance County and immediately adjacent counties. Whenever possible, variant possible spellings of the surname have been noted.
   
• A file listing persons from Alamance County who died in the Vietnam War.  Word format only.  Thanks go to library volunteer Miriam Pace for compiling this list.

The Local History Librarian will answer limited inquiries by mail if a stamped-self-addressed envelope is provided. Other sources of local historical and genealogical information include:

Alamance County Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 3052
Burlington, NC 27216
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncacgs/

Alamance County Historical Museum
4777 South NC Highway 62
Burlington, NC 27215

Online links to North Carolina Historical Information:

NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online)

Online links to Genealogical Information:

Helm's Genealogy Toolbox , A comprehensive list of sites, genealogy guides and indexes, surname data

Rand Genealogy Club,  How-to information and links to other genealogy sites

Roots-l Resources Page,  The homepage of the best-known genealogical mailing list with more than 10,000subscribers.

Soundex Converter , Convert a surname to the Soundex Code used for indexing census microfilm from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Alamance County Genweb, Alamance County NC site of the USGenWeb Project

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Search the International Genealogical Index (IGI) of the Mormon Church.

Social Security Death Index, Verify 20th century death dates to help get enough information to obtain obituaries or death certificates.

Africana Heritage Project,  The Africana Heritage Project was begun in order to assist African Americans who are researching their family histories. Our mission is to rediscover those valuable records that document the names and lives of slaves, freedpersons, and their descendants.
 

The Local History Room computer at May Memorial is equipped with Family Tree Maker's Family Archives compact discs containing southern states marriage records, Social Security Death Benefits Index and some World Family Tree maker discs.